


Pizza: a Christmas Miracle

by Ahmerst



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas fic, M/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 03:12:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2835890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahmerst/pseuds/Ahmerst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Don’t bother the person in the neighboring apartment to you at 7 am because you want their leftover pizza. Especially on Christmas morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pizza: a Christmas Miracle

The last thing Aoba expected on Christmas morning was a knock at his door, especially when he lived alone. He rolled over in bed at the first knock, unsure he’d even heard it to begin with. Maybe it was nothing more than a remnant of his dream. That’s what he wanted it to be, at least.

When the knock came again he pulled the covers up to his nose with a frown. Whoever it was could take a long jump off a short pier. Granny was ages away, probably tucked in and comfortable herself, and Aoba had made it clear to anyone that inquired that no, he didn’t mind spending the holiday alone. Especially after working the entire run up to it, his lackluster job as an on-bike delivery man running him ragged up until the big day.

“I know you’re in there,” came a voice, barely audible from behind the living room door.

“Is it the police?” Aoba called back.

“No.”

“Then go away.”

The knocking stopped then. At least long enough for Aoba to lose his thoughts to the tempting call of sleep.

“It’s important,” the voice came again.

With a dramatic huff Aoba forced himself up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and hauling himself to his feet. One hand slipped up his front to scratch lazily at his stomach as he shuffled for the front door, stepping over streamers and confetti from last week’s Christmas party he hadn’t bothered to clean up after yet.

The knocking was back by the time he made it to the living room, and Aoba leaned his weight onto his toes to spy through the peephole when he reached the door.

It was his neighbor, the one that was an oddball. His name didn’t come immediately to mind.

He had ruffled blond hair and eyes that belonged on an animal more than a human, the light reflecting all wrong off them, the color too vivid. His skin glinted with piercings, so many that Aoba never took stock of them in their entirety. Until now, at least.

Aoba’s fingers fumbled over the deadbolt before he pulled the door open, careful to leave only the smallest amount of space for his neighbor to see in. He hadn’t exactly had the time to be tidy with the work hours he had.

“What’s important?” Aoba asked, raising one hand to rub sleep from his eyes.

“Did you know that every pizza place is closed on Christmas?” his neighbor asked. It wasn’t a simple question. It was an accusation, like Aoba had a monopoly on every local pizzeria and was out to stick it to him.

“Well considering it’s, what, six am--”

“Seven,” his neighbor corrected.

Aoba went cross-eyed for a moment.

“Beg pardon, your majesty,” Aoba said sourly. “Considering it’s seven am on Christmas, I would think it’s more likely for a pizza place to be closed than open. And how is that even important to begin with?”

“It’s important because you have pizza,” his neighbor said.

Aoba squinted, the hand he had on the door knob tensing to close it. His neighbor seemed to notice, and he pushed his foot into the small gap of the open door to stop it.

“I had pizza, like, two nights ago,” Aoba said. He didn’t ask how his neighbor knew.

“I bet you have leftovers.”

“Yeah, all of two slices.”

Two slices he was very much looking forward to eating later.

“I will pay you fifty bucks for a slice.”

“Fifty bucks for an old slice of pizza?”

The seriousness that overwhelmed his neighbor’s expression was unsettling and all too old-looking on his young features.

“Yes.”

Aoba’s hands dropped to his sides in confusion, and his neighbor took the opportunity to push his way through.

“Just you wait a second,” Aoba snapped, his hands coming up to grab his neighbor by the shoulders. He could feel the lean muscle beneath the hoodie he was wearing.

“A deal’s a deal,” the man said.

Aoba pushed once. His neighbor didn’t budge. Aoba pushed a second time, and this time his neighbor smiled. His smile had all the right curves, the flash of teeth all lined neatly save for a single snaggle tooth. Aoba’s heart lurched like it always did at exactly the wrong time, and over all the wrong people.

“Nice pad, Aoba,” his neighbor said, eyes glancing around. “A little more festive than I recall, but not bad.”

“How do you even know my name?” Aoba asked, grip tightening.

“Your mail got delivered to me once. Plus you told me after I moved in.”

Aoba rolled his lower lip between his teeth. He couldn’t recall exchanging words with his neighbor beyond muffled ‘hellos’ and a half-mumbled ‘excuse me’, though they’d been neighbors since he’d moved in. 

The thought of it flickered a memory in his head, nearly two years old now. Moving day, a ridiculously poorly timed downpour, and the guy that had helped him haul his battered old mattress up two flights of stairs without so much as asking if he needed help.

“Noiz,” the guy whispered. “My name is Noiz.”

“Get the hell out of my apartment, Noiz,” Aoba said.

“Harsh,” Noiz said, his smile never faltering. “Throwing a guy out on Christmas? A hungry one at that?”

Aoba narrowed his eyes. This freakin’ chump. He’d had a sixth sense about Noiz all along. Nothing but trouble. Kind of totally hot trouble. The kind of trouble Aoba tended to get attached to.

Aoba’s hands dropped from Noiz’s shoulders, palms facing away as he held them up in defeat.

“Fine, whatever. Barge in here, eat my food, act like you own the place.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Noiz said, shutting the door behind himself. 

Aoba rubbed his hand over his mouth to suppress a sigh as he watched Noiz make a bee line for the kitchen. Aoba was slow to follow, the microwave already humming before he reached the kitchen. Noiz stood before it with his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie, back bent as he peered into the microwave and watched the plate slowly spin.

“How are you even up this early?” Aoba asked, resting his hip against the kitchen counter.

“Didn’t sleep,” Noiz said.

“Well why not?”

“If you’re looking for some deep answer,” Noiz started, opening the microwave door the second before it beeped, “you’re out of luck. Just didn’t feel like it.”

Aoba cocked his head to the side as he watched Noiz divvy up the leftover pizza onto two plates.

“I’m sure your family is going to love it when you fall asleep during dinner,” Aoba said.

Noiz’s laughter was a sharp, loud bark as he started to root through the cupboards, pulling from them a clean glass.

“That’s rich,” he said.

“What? Are you not visiting them?”

“Look, if dealing with airports during the holidays, being jetlegged to hell and back, and dealing with people who are going to tell you to brush your hair and take your piercings out is your thing, you can have my folks. Hell, we can do a straight trade. What are yours like?”

“Gone,” Aoba said sourly. “Well, except for my grandma.”

Who admittedly kicked a lot of ass, was tough as nails, and all the family Aoba could ever want. The only thing keeping him from her today was that public transport to the countryside stopped being a thing when twenty inches of snow fell over the course of two days.

“Then I guess we’ll just have to make do with one another,” Noiz said. He poured himself a glass of dark soda like it wasn’t ass o clock in the morning, then nodded the bottle at Aoba.

“Water is fine,” Aoba said, brushing him off.

He didn’t wait for Noiz to pour the glass, instead retreating to the living room, body falling heavy on the beat up cushions of his couch. He was more tired than he had been when he woke up. More tired than he had been when he went to sleep the night before. 

Here he was Christmas morning, and instead of spending it with his grandma, he was snowed in to his apartment with a guy he’d spoken to all of once. A guy who had a lot of good looks and seemingly little sense. Exactly the type Aoba found himself entangled with more times than he wanted to recount.

The cushions dipped as Noiz sat beside him, placing a plate of leftover pizza in Aoba’s lap. The bottom of the plate burned hot against his thighs, and Aoba pushed it to rest on his knees. 

“If you really don’t want me around, I can ditch,” Noiz said, a string of cheese connecting his mouth to his slice of pizza.

Aoba thinned his lips as he debated it. If he booted Noiz, he’d get his apartment back to himself, and... then what? He’d sleep the day away, holed up in his room and doing a whole lot of nothing. He’d probably mope about even if he did get up, brooding over his lack of company.

While Noiz was an unorthodox guest, it was better than no one.

“It’s fine,” Aoba said, lifting his own slice of pizza to his lips. “I’m not going to throw you out on Christmas, even if you are a complete weirdo.”

Noiz shrugged, making no effort to deny it. 

When the silence between them became awkward, Aoba grabbed the remote and turned on the TV for the sake of the sound. He didn’t pay much attention to the TV or what he was putting into his mouth. Mostly he paid attention to how close Noiz was sitting. How the sides of their thighs rested against one another’s. It wasn’t awful.

So far from awful that Aoba didn’t even mind when Noiz’s shoulder came to bump against his after their empty plates had been placed on the coffee table. Noiz smelled vaguely of soft and chemical fabric softener, the scents not quite covering up the faded scent of cologne sprayed days ago.

When Noiz yawned, Aoba found it contagious. His body became more lax as the minutes passed, his exhaustion fading his irritation. His eyelids grew heavy, and before he knew it his head was tipping to the side, cheek pressed to Noiz’s shoulder.

It was something he noticed only when Noiz lifted his arm, bringing it up to drape it across Aoba’s shoulders.

“Don’t get fresh with me,” Aoba mumbled tiredly.

“You started it,” Noiz said. 

“Yeah, well, deal with it,” Aoba said. He wasn’t in the mood to go tit for tat.

“Can do,” Noiz said.

Folding his arms over his chest for warmth, Aoba wriggled closer to Noiz, enjoying the bodyheat shared between them. His heart fit in a few beats too many for his liking, and he blamed it on how tired he was. He’d nearly fallen back to sleep by the time Noiz shifted, breath a soft sigh before he spoke.

“Ever get any use out of that thing?”

Aoba opened an eye. “What thing?”

Noiz jerked his head, and Aoba looked up. Above the couch hung a sprig of mistletoe that had been hung up before the party, yet another thing that Aoba hadn’t gotten around to clearing away yet.

“I didn’t even know that was still up there,” Aoba said.

“Well are you going to put it to work or not?” Noiz asked.

Aoba sniffed once before blinking the sleep from his eyes. He’d been right to avoid Noiz for so long, what with his straightforwardness and schmoozing. A dangerous combination if ever there was one, a combination that left heat prickling beneath his skin and made his breathing turn shallow.

“Are you really going to practically knock down my door at dawn, eat my food, and then have the gall to try to kiss me?” Aoba asked. The nerve of this guy was otherwordly. 

“Basically,” Noiz said with a single nod. “And come on, why wouldn’t I? I’ve got a cute little thing tucked under my arm. Of course I want in on that.”

“Absolutely ridiculous,” Aoba scoffed, cheeks heating. “What makes you think I’d even say yes?”

“You haven’t said no,” Noiz noted.

Aoba stared pointedly at the television, a cheesy holiday special on the screen. He’d have to be delirious with exhaustion to let Noiz kiss him, yet here he was doing exactly that.

“I’ll get you dinner if that makes it any more acceptable for you,” Noiz offered.

“Aren’t you supposed to do that before trying to kiss someone?”

“In normal circumstances, which I don’t think this counts as.”

“Point taken,” Aoba said, rubbing his chin as credits started to roll on the screen. He waited until it cut to commercials to make up his mind, his permission unspoken as he turned his face to Noiz’s.

Noiz’s hand cupped his jaw with a gentility that made his blood pressure imitate a roller coaster ride, corkscrews included. 

“It’s going to be weird if you keep your eyes open,” Noiz chided as he leaned in, breath flickering against Aoba’s lips.

“R-right,” Aoba stuttered, shutting his eyes tightly. Something stuck in his throat, and he was busy trying to swallow it when Noiz’s lips brushed against his own.

Aoba forgot about the early hour, his weariness, and the fact that Noiz was a near stranger as they kissed. It was softer than Aoba had imagined. No demanding edge or hint of teeth. Just something soft and sweet, a moment that ended just as it started to register.

Noiz’s dumb smirk returned to his face all too fast, and Aoba let out a huff as he looked away.

“Not too shabby, eh?” Noiz asked, nudging Aoba’s side.

“You get one, that’s it,” Aoba said, the nudge he gave Noiz hardly as amicable.

“Fair enough,” Noiz said, settling back into the couch. It wasn’t two minutes before he spoke again. “So, got anyone to kiss when it comes time to ring in the New Year?”

“Dinner first,” Aoba reminded. “Then we’ll talk.”

Noiz shrugged at that, his arm wrapping tighter around Aoba’s shoulder, pulling him flush to his side.

Aoba let his mind wander as he went back to watching television, commercials airing once again. He barely took them in, his attention focusing only when one played too loudly, and with too many colors. It was for a local pizza joint down the block, one that was open twenty-four hours. And advertising that it was open Christmas day.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Aoba said, side-eyeing Noiz. “You totally could have got pizza from them.”

“Well I had to figure out a way to get in here somehow,” Noiz said. “I wasn’t gonna let you spend Christmas alone.”

Aoba scrubbed a hand over his face before shaking his head in disbelief.

“What?” Noiz went on. “Wouldn’t be doing my neighborly-duty if I allowed it.”

“Next time,” Aoba said, giving up on making any sense of the day and letting himself slump against Noiz. “You can just ask to come in.”


End file.
